Totetsu and Pandora's Box
by FannyT
Summary: Do you know the legend of Pandora's box? Join Tetsu as he explores the plagues of mankind... and its greatest gift, which is Hope.
1. Prologue, Pride

Hi! This is a really old story that has been gathering virtual dust in my folder for some time now. Thought it was time to bring it out into the light of day. (Be kind.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Petshop of Horrors.

Prologue - Pride

The man stepped back, breathing heavily. In front of him lay the body of the very recently deceased "Darling Dotty", a figure well known in that area and a girl of the street corners. She had been a relatively pretty girl, much cuter at least than many of the whores in the neighbourhood, with long curly hair and large eyes. Now she was dead, and the knife in the man's hand was red.

The man heaved suddenly, throwing up what little he had left of his dinner, one hand against the wall to steady himself. He was sweating all the way through his shirt, making the heavy jacket of his suit stick to his back. He looked down at his hand in disgust, wiped the knife against his trouser leg and stuck it back in his pocket, fighting down the nausea that threatened to rise again at the thought of what that knife, that tool of murder, had done. No. What _he_ had done, with that knife.

He heaved again, but there was nothing left in his stomach and the only thing he felt was his gut being twisted inside out. Wiping his hand across his mouth, he tried to figure out what to do next. He had to get out of there quickly, but should he wait until he was calmer so that he didn't look suspicious? Or was it more dangerous to linger, since then he could be caught at the scene?

"Oy," said a voice, and he very nearly passed out. He was going to be caught and convicted, he was going to spend years in jail, his career would be ruined...

He turned around slowly, his stomach leaden (despite having been so recently emptied). But meeting his gaze was no policeman. It was a young man, wearing oriental-looking clothes and no shoes. His feet looked strange – they were far too long and the nails, like those on his fingers, were so long and pointed as to best be described as claws. He was smiling, and his teeth were white against his tanned skin.

"Are you willing to share her?" he asked. For a moment the man thought the stranger meant sexually, and the bile rose in his throat as he thought that even for a necrophile you had to be twisted to be turned on by that wreck of a body, but then the young man went on, "I would normally hunt for myself rather than scavenge off others, of course, but the truth is that I'm so hungry that right now I could hardly find the strength to kill a toddler. Would you mind if I had just a limb or two?"

The man stared. Slowly his disgust changed to horror as he realized the stranger was serious, and then to anger. "God, you're sick!" he exclaimed. "You mean you'd _eat_ her? What kind of a twisted bastard are you?"

The strange figure leaned his head to one side, looking puzzled. "Am I sick for wanting to eat her?" he asked. "What, aren't you going to?"

"No!" exclaimed the man, sick to the stomach. The stranger frowned.

"You mean you didn't kill her for food? Then what _did_she die for?" he asked, slowly walking forwards and crouching down beside the corpse. The man backed away until he stood against the wall, swallowing and swallowing to force the bile back down his throat. "I mean, it can hardly have been self defence, she doesn't look as if she could threaten you..." The youngster paused, and then looked steadily up at the older man. "Sounds to me as if you're the sick one here, if you killed her for no reason at all."

"I had a reason!" snapped the man, as much to reassure himself as to tell the other. "She... you don't understand... she was demanding more money, always more money, or she'd tell what I... it's illegal, you know, to buy from, from, from people like her. It isn't in – " he glanced dubiously at the other's clothing and tried to discern what origin they had, but gave up " – in _some_ countries, maybe, but here it is and if it got out that I'd been... buying from her, I – my career would be ruined! I would get fired, I wouldn't be able to find a new job either, I'd lose everything I'd ever worked for!" He shouldn't be saying this. He should be denying he had anything to do with Dotty's murder, should be getting on his way. Later he would explain to himself that it had been the guilt talking. He would try not to think of those large, dark, reproachful eyes, drawing him in and forcing him to speak.

"She's just a whore anyway!" he exploded, shaking his head as if to shake away the guilt.

"Whore..." said the young man thoughtfully and quietly. He was sitting next to Dotty's head, caressing one of her long curls with slim fingers. "This means that she gets paid to satisfy lonely men, I believe." He looked up, and smiled. "What do you do for a living, you of Great Ambition?"

"I – I work in the tax department," said the man in confusion.

"So you get paid to take people's money." The youngster let the lock of hair fall back to the ground. He was no longer smiling. "I think she makes her customers happier than you do. And I think, that if a person's line of work is what decides whether that person has the right to live or not – that's what you said, isn't it? – then you deserve to die more than she did."

And as the man looked into the other's eyes he saw a ruthless, hungry being, one that cared not for the hierarchical structures of the human world but only for whom was worth eating. Here was someone who made no difference between humans; the good or the bad, the rich or the poor, the respected citizens or the scum of the city – all were equal to him. The ultimate sense of justice, in a way.

The man turned, and ran. He ran until his heart pounded, caring nothing for secrecy or discretion, ran all the way to the nearest main street where he hailed a cab and gave the driver an outrageous amount of money for getting him home to his apartment as quick as possible. And the entire way, until he curled up on the sofa in his living room and hugged his knees tightly to stop shaking, he was sobbing; terrified that he would be caught, ripped limb from limb and slowly devoured by an inhuman creature that knew nothing but the joy of the hunt.

Meanwhile, the young man sat in the lane, eating his fill. He had made sure to leave enough of the body for the police to do their work properly, but there was no sense in letting good meat go to waste. Later the crime techs would be able to find evidence that pointed straight to the man who had killed her – one the police had been keeping an eye on lately. They would also see that a large animal had been at the corpse, but would put this down to one of the many stray dogs that wandered the area.

Witnesses would easily recall how strange the suspected murderer had looked when he rushed out of the alley Darling Dotty was later found in, and they would comment on how quickly he got away from the area – almost as if chased by something. Guilt, they would say, nodding their heads wisely, and it might make for a story in an evening paper. The man would be convicted of manslaughter, and would then be facing a sentence of – at the inside – twelve years. Yet he had known all this, known what it was he risked, when he chose to kill a woman whose only fault in the world was greed. He had chosen to risk spending the next decade in jail when the alternative was humiliation and shame.

The youngster licked his fingers, and grinned up at the stars.

"Strange creatures, humans," said Totetsu.


	2. Chapter One, Hope

Chapter One – Hope

It was a cold and dreary night, not a night you went out into voluntarily. Sure enough few people could indeed be seen on the rain-drenched streets and the ones that were actually out were all on their way somewhere, hunched up underneath wide umbrellas, huddling in their raincoats. No one spoke to anyone else, their individual lives being more than enough to deal with at the moment.

From the shelter of the doorway to a café, closed for the day, a young man watched the world. He was not dressed for the weather and the rain dripped from his hair and clothes in a constant stream. Yet he did not seem to mind the cold, or even notice it.

The young man had no place to call his own, no friends to take him in, and his family he had forgotten a long time ago. He was older than he looked – much older – and he had travelled far and long to find himself in that doorway. For many years he had been wandering the earth, looking for something he himself found hard to define. What he craved was warmth, an open door, a happy voice, a gentle smile.

Somewhere out there, all this waited for him. But before he could find it, he must first search for it. And to do that, he must first understand what he longed for.

At the moment he was happy where he was, watching people walking by. Other people were an endless source of amusement to him – the way they thought their little lives were so important, that the world revolved around them and them only! At the same time, they were a mystery. There were so many things he couldn't understand about them. And he wanted to learn.

"Young man..." An umbrella spoke suddenly to him. He watched it in bemusement until it tilted back to reveal an old lady, looking concerned. "Young man," she repeated, "if you have nowhere else to go, you are welcome to stay with me. I am old and alone, and company is always appreciated. It hurts me to see you like this, you poor boy... haven't you even got any shoes?" She peered at him, face pinched with cold and sympathy. He gazed back at her, first indifferently and then with a grin.

"Are you totally stupid?" he asked, leaning back against the door to the café. "I could be a thief, a rapist, a murderer. And you'd let me into your home without a second thought? No wonder old ladies die like flies..."

"I know that very well," answered the lady mildly. "The first two categories you mentioned wouldn't have much to fetch from me, and the third would only be hastening my time with a few short months, I'm afraid. I am old; I do not fear dying anymore. And I see in your face that you would not kill."

He laughed then. "You really _are_ stupid," he said. "But OK. I've eaten my fill recently and I have nothing better to do, so I guess I can be company for a while to the lady who doesn't fear death. Lead the way."

And that was how Totetsu met Hope.

* * *

_Hi again... Here's chapter one of my tale about Tetsu's life before he met D. (A part of it, at least...) _

_The legend about Pandora's Box, by the way. Do you know it? Just in case not, here it is in short: a woman named Pandora was given a box, and told not to open it – because inside the box were all the plagues that haunt mankind; war, famine, pride and so forth, plus one more thing: hope. But Pandora was very curious to gaze on what was in the box, and she opened it anyway. All the horrors in the box then flew out into the world and have continued to plague us ever since. But Pandora managed to shut the box again before hope got out, and that's why hope has always stayed with mankind. _

_(I'm aware that there is a contradiction here.)_

_In another version of the story, it's Pandora's husband who peeks into the box. I don't remember which is the ''real'' one, but in any case it adds up to the same thing so it doesn't really matter._

_Thank you to the reviewers! _


	3. Chapter Two, War

Chapter Two – War

Tetsu was lying flat on his stomach on the floor of Hope's living room, watching a talk show with an air of great concentration. He had discovered television the day before, and been completely enchanted. The way the little people inside the box moved and talked like real life humans, as real as if they had been in the room with him... and yet they were unreachable, shut in behind a pane of glass. It fascinated him.

He grabbed the remote control and switched channel – another amazing thing about the box; just one press of a button and the scene changed completely – chancing upon a news program. A pretty girl in a white shirt said something about a country with a name that was hard to pronounce, and then came footage of a battle field, dying or dead men lying in droves.

_A buffet_, thought Tetsu. Hope came in from the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel, and gasped as she saw the scenes on the television.

"Terrible," she said, sitting down heavily in the armchair, "oh, it's terrible... All those young men, throwing their lives away..."

_Yes, terrible_, Tetsu agreed in the privacy of his mind. _All that meat going to waste._

"It's so mindless," sighed Hope, shaking her head. "They don't know why they do it, or even what they are doing, but they are told to kill and they kill, and all because of something terribly petty like land, or religion... because someone else, someone powerful, has decided that war is the best and only solution. War, war... why is it such a large part of our life? Why do we have to see it every day?"

"But it's far away," said Tetsu, who had concluded as much from the news report. Hope looked at him kindly.

"Yes," she said. "But war also happens all around us, every day and every hour. Because it's close to home we can't see it, but it's there. Kids kill each other because of gang alliances. The next-door neighbours scream at each other over the head of their five-year-old son. Murders and robberies happen in these streets, outside our windows. We are surrounded by so many horrendous deeds, we turn blind, refuse to see them."

She smiled suddenly. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to listen to the ramblings of an old woman like me. Come into the kitchen!"

"Why?" asked Tetsu, but turned the television off and rose from the floor, following her.

"I have made stew," she answered, showing him the table with place for two, and the steaming pot of meat. "I haven't seen you eat once in the four days you have been here. You don't have to eat out all the time! You are living here now. This is your home. Feel free to use it."

_So that's what the kitchen is for_, thought Tetsu, who had wondered. _You make food in here._ Then he sneered, scoffing at the pot on the table. "You think I'd eat that?" he asked. "I'm going out."

_Cooked meat_, he thought once out of the house, laughing to himself. _Humans._ He was running across the roofs, throwing himself across the open space between houses and feeling more alive than he had for long. But even as relaxed as he was feeling, all the while he was keeping his senses alert, searching for an unwary human, one that could be lured away and snatched. Hope's invitation had reminded him of his hunger, and he realized that he needed to feed again. Why he didn't just eat Hope he wasn't sure.

_Tough to chew_, he thought. But that was just an excuse.

Something caught his attention, something in the corner of his eye, and he skidded to a halt right at the edge of the roof. He walked back to the other edge and looked down into the alleyway below. He grinned, sharp teeth glinting. Well, well. This was what she had talked about, wasn't it?

* * *

"Well, this is a nice wallet," said one of the youngsters, holding the object of his admiration into the air. "Pity we aren't going to let you keep it."

"Those are very nice teeth, too," said another, leaning in close to the young man, little more than a boy, they had cornered. "Pity we aren't going to let you keep those either."

"Fuck you! He will come after you for this," spat the boy, struggling against the two larger men who were holding him. "You think you're so big, breaking out and doing your own thing, but in reality you're just a flock of frightened sheep who will run as soon as he barks. You're pathetic!"

"No, you're the sheep," answered the second young man. "Following your leader mindlessly, bleating your appreciation of everything he does..."

"Wow," said a voice. The group of youngsters all turned around simultaneously, and saw Tetsu walking towards them, grinning happily. "This is "war", isn't it?"

"What are you talking about, man?" asked the man who was still holding the wallet. "There hasn't been a gang war for ages. And there probably won't be for a long time yet, either – not with the pussies who are in charge. We aren't at war. This is just..." he grinned, "sending a little message."

"And you think you're so cool for doing it!" snapped the lone youngster, spitting on the ground in front of his captors. "He will have you down on the ground and begging him for mercy. You're nothing! Think you are something for breaking out, but really you are nothing!"

"Shut up," said one of the men, and the two large youngsters tightened their grip on their victim's arms.

"This is even better than television," said Tetsu, who had perched on one of the rubbish bins and was watching the exchange with the same fascination he had for soap operas. The man who had been talking about teeth turned towards him.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked.

"Tetsu," said Tetsu, and pointed at the captured boy. "And I agree with him. You are nothing."

"What?" The young man with the wallet turned his full attention to Tetsu, too, looking angrily at him. "Think yourself something big?"

"Maybe we ought to show you what happens when you mess with us," said the other. "Maybe you are one of his little buddies. Maybe you think just because we quit the gang we're weak. Well, we're not." He nodded to the muscle men to let go of the captured one, and all four moved towards Tetsu, grinning. He pouted.

"Four against one? Oh, come on." He jumped down from the rubbish bin and stretched towards the sky, then grinned back at them. "_Too_ easy."

* * *

The lone boy had run away, Tetsu noted, idly licking his fingers clean. That was another thing about humans, curious and intriguing: the way they themselves administered pain to their enemies without a second thought, cruelty coming naturally... and yet they were strangely reluctant to watch it in others. And it wasn't as if he had committed a great wrong, Tetsu thought as he watched the torn bodies of the four youngsters. He had merely wanted to eat. He would have been satisfied with just the one or two, as well, but when all four had thrown themselves at him he hadn't had much choice.

He sat back on his haunches, stretching his arms to ease the tension. It had been good to use his body again. Sheltered inside Hope's home, he was afraid he was growing soft. The comforts she offered him were strange and alien, yet he found himself enjoying them almost against his own will – carpets protecting his bare feet from a cold floor, a soft bed to rest in at night, artificial lights when he wanted to see. Human comforts, aids for a softened species.

He thought about what she had said to him, earlier. About war and its horror. He thought he understood, a little. War was a human thing altogether, being part of their daily life in a way he would never understand. War was when people hurt each other, not for food or self defence but for human reasons – unfathomable to him – like riches or pride. He remembered the murder he had seen only weeks before, when a man, driven to desperation by the thought of how his reputation could be ruined, had taken the life of another human being. The man had been a despicable creature, weak and gutless, and Tetsu's lip curled in scorn just thinking about him. Was that war, too, when a worm like him committed atrocities to save his own miserable skin? When a man killed, seeing only his own future and caring nothing for the one he had just erased?

War certainly came in many forms, Tetsu decided. He would have to study it further.

He spent the night out in the streets, running across the roofs and mapping the streets, and returned to Hope's house only the next morning – with a full stomach and a pleased mind, happy over having encountered so many new things to think over. When he arrived he found her waiting for him. She said nothing, only smiled, and closed the door behind him.

He realized that the soft click of the door as it shut no longer put him in mind of a prison.

That night, she invited him once more into the kitchen. Curious and amused, he wondered if she had really not understood what he had said the night before or if she was just being obstinate, refusing to listen.

She had made soup, on cinnamon and pumpkin and with bread to go with it.

"You should have told me," she said, her tone half despairing and half indulgent, "that you are a vegetarian. Dear boy, you have to talk. I can't _guess_ all the time what goes on in your head."

Part of him wanted to laugh out loud, part of him felt something he had never felt before. Something warm... He shrugged the feeling off, regarding the table with quiet amusement. The things she thought up... really.

Oh well, every creature needed a balanced diet...

"You're right," he said. "I should have said."

He sat down, and smiled at her as she poured him a bowl full of soup.

* * *

_Hi! Sorry for the time it took me to update – haven't really had access to the internet in a while. _

_Thank you to those who read this – makes me happy to know that even if this is an old story it's still interesting to some. (Because we all love our Totetsu, don't we...) This is probably the chapter I am least happy with in this story. Hope you liked it anyway. :) _

_Until next time! _


	4. Chapter Three, Jealousy

Chapter Three – Jealousy

"I hear she's taken in some boy, a complete stranger."

"_I_ hear she met him on the street, only half dressed and barefoot. One of those male prostitutes, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Do you think?"

"And now she's given him a home? How very... charitable."

"Question is, I guess, how charitable _he_ is."

"Oh, really. He is young enough to be her grandson..."

"It hasn't stopped anyone before."

"Quiet!"

Hope walked in through the door to the shop, leaning slightly on Tetsu's arm. Her rheumatism had worsened for a couple of days, and it hurt to walk. Tetsu helped her willingly, but smiled to himself when she didn't see. Humans really were astounding in their wish to extend their years. Even those who could not live without others, who needed help for something as simple as walking – they still held on to life grimly, refusing to let go. Animals didn't live that way, and so it was strange to him.

"Good morning, Martha." Hope smiled at the gaggle of old women, huddled together in the vegetables department. "Good morning, Mrs Hubert... Nina... Esther..."

"Good morning, Hope," answered the women, smiling at her and gazing with undisguised curiosity at the young man beside her. Tetsu had agreed to let Hope wash his clothes and now instead wore a large shirt and jeans that had once belonged to her son, but he still refused to cover his feet. He wore more jewellery than was really decent, in the ladies' opinions, and his hair was wild, a mass of curls that no comb or brush could tame (Hope had tried valiantly and failed, to Tetsu's sniggers). And if all this was unusual and intriguing, his eyes were yet stranger. You found yourself unable to look away, once they had caught you, and they were a colour none of the ladies had ever seen before.

Had they ever stared eye to eye with a wolf or a falcon, they might have recognised those eyes. They belonged to someone free, someone who would never suffer a cage or collar.

Put shortly, Tetsu looked wildly out of place in the small shop. While Hope talked politely with her neighbours, he gathered the vegetables they needed and put them in the shopping basket held daintily over one arm. It was rather like watching a wild bear dancing – absurdly comical, an animal playing human games.

He noticed the old ladies' searching stares, but when he looked back they glanced away, embarrassed. He frowned in confusion.

"You must excuse us," said Hope, smiling again at the others, "but we have such a lot of shopping to do. I have avoided going out for the last couple of days, you know how it is when the rheumatism sets in..."

The other ladies murmured assent, offering their best wishes for a speedy recovery. Hope thanked them and moved on, and Tetsu hurried to her side, taking her arm. They had hardly gone out of earshot when the whispering started again.

"So that's him, mm?"

"I don't know what she is thinking. Did you see his eyes?"

"Clearly a criminal of some sort..."

"Those eyes..."

"All that jewellery..."

"Not _normal_..."

"And his eyes..."

Tetsu frowned again, looking at the old lady by his side. "They don't like me," he said. "I'm making things difficult for you. I should leave."

"Never," said Hope, and smiled. "If I cared about what other people thought was right and lived my life with the intent never to break anyone's rules, I'd have to stay at home with the windows shut and bordered up, and lie in bed trying not to breathe. Even so, someone would be sure to comment on how ugly my house looked... There will always be people who do not approve of what you do, and I find the best thing is to ignore them. Besides... for these ladies, it is just the jealousy speaking."

"Jealousy?" Tetsu had heard the word before, and never understood it. "What do you mean?"

"We are all lonely," said Hope, and when she smiled it wasn't happy. "My husband died many years ago and my son is in Cambodia, far away. When he comes home he spends his time with his fiancée or friends, and seldom comes to see me. He has a new life now, and one that features me only far down the list." She paused, sighed. "It's the same for all of us. Mrs Hubert calls herself a widow, but everyone knows her husband left her fifteen years ago for another. Martha has no children and her husband is in a hospital – can no longer remember who _he _is, let alone her. Nina's children won't see her since she divorced their father, and most of her relatives are dead. Esther never married.

"We all long for company again. Without another person in your life, every day looks like the other and you forget how to laugh." She fell silent again, but then smiled at him. "But I found you."

"Then why aren't they happy?" asked Tetsu. He had always been alone, but by listening to Hope and watching the television he had been introduced to the concept of friends, people who wanted nothing but good for you. "If you are happy, why aren't they glad? I thought they were your friends."

"Sadly, jealousy is a very strong force," said Hope. She shook her head, and turned. "Now come. We need milk, and eggs."

* * *

He looked it up in the dictionary.

**jealous:** _adj._ suspicious of, or incensed at, rivalry: envious: solicitous: anxiously heedful: mistrustfully vigilant: brooking no unfaithfulness.

"Thanks a bunch," he said.

He started to look up _incensed_ as well, then gave up and settled down to think about it instead. He thought he could understand the theory of it, at least. The other old ladies did not like that Hope was happy, because they wanted her happiness for themselves. And yet, although they wanted what she had, they did not take it.

Animal laws are simple. What you have, you have; what you haven't, you either take for yourself or forget. There is no longing, no bitterness, no jealously watching and poisoned words.

He left the house silently, and disappeared into the streets. Half an hour later he was back, clambering up the side of the two-storey house next to Hope's – walls slippery with rain – to reach the second floor, where he knew the woman called Mrs Hubert lived. He raised his head carefully over the windowsill, and grinned as he looked into her living room. She was watching television, one of his favourite shows.

"I was so surprised when they turned out to be related."

She looked around, opened her eyes wide and screamed. "How the – how did you get in?" she shrieked, flying out of the couch and then clutching at her heart, grimacing. Tetsu shrugged.

"Through the window," he said, pointing at the same. "It was sort of open, so I opened it some more."

"But I live on the second floor! And you can't just enter people's homes like this!"

"Oh, I know. I would have come the front way, because I know it's polite," he was pretty proud over remembering this, "but the man who lives underneath you wouldn't let me in." He had opened the door after Tetsu's bell but had merely sneered with disgust and kicked at Tetsu, muttering about gene manipulation. Tetsu was used to it. He didn't fit into any of the little boxes in people's minds – was he a dog... a sheep... or wait, a human? And that which sticks out is thrust out, scorned and avoided.

"What do you want?" Mrs Hubert was backing away, a slight limp to her step. "If it's money I don't have any."

"What would I do with money?" frowned Tetsu. "No, I brought you a friend." He stuck his head out of the window, calling out to someone who seemed to be just outside it. In the tree that stood in their front garden, perhaps? But no, that surely couldn't support a human... "Come on!"

"For heaven's sake!" Mrs Hubert seemed to lose some of the terror she had felt when Tetsu first entered, replacing it with anger. "What do you think this is, the Salvation Army's – oh, what on _earth_?" A young girl had just entered the room, helped by Tetsu. "What gives you the right to drag your dirty little friends in here? Don't let her step on the carpet! Who is this? She looks like a drowned cat!"

"Funny you should say that," grinned Tetsu. "This is your new friend. She will make you less lonely. Tell the lady your name, go on." This was to the girl, who looked up at Mrs Hubert through a sopping, ragged fringe.

" 'M Cat," she said sullenly.

"Good lord." Mrs Hubert looked at her with disgust. "_When_ did you last wash yourself?"

"T'day," said the girl quite truthfully, although if Mrs Hubert had known what she meant by washing herself she might just have fainted.

"See," said Tetsu, "Hope said that the reason you are unpleasant is that you are lonely. That's what turned you spiteful, not having anyone to share the dead hours with." He put a hand on the girl's shoulder and pushed her forward gently. "Cat doesn't have anywhere to go, so she can stay with you and keep you company. And I can talk to you, too, if you want."

"What is this all about?" asked Mrs Hubert. The fear had returned to her face, and she seemed to be trying to edge away without appearing to move.

"Making Hope happy," Tetsu replied promptly.

"And you'll make Hope happy by dragging some brat – some street urchin – into my home?"

Tetsu's eyes narrowed. "See," he said, "that's the difference between you and my human. Hope would have said _"the poor thing, she looks so cold"_. You say, _"dirty brat, I don't want her in here"_. I brought Cat to you because the way I understand it, you are jealous of Hope for having me with her. I brought you someone like me. Is that not enough? What do you want me to do? Do you want me to keep you company? I can do that. I can talk to the other ladies, too, if that will make you all stop saying bad things. I don't mind talking. And I wouldn't eat any of you because that would be like eating boots. You are so old."

Mrs Hubert stared at him. She did not even seem to notice Cat, who had wandered off into the other end of the room and curled up in the armchair, rubbing her head against one of the large pillows.

"You are crazy." Mrs Hubert shook her head, pushing against the wall as if she could go through it if only she tried hard enough. "You – you're not normal."

"No," said Tetsu, cheerfully. "But I like Hope. And I want her to be happy instead of upset." He hopped back up on the windowsill and started to climb out. Then he turned back towards Mrs Hubert and smiled, beautifully. "Take care of Cat. If you try, you might find her company does do you good. Anyway, I'll come back. You won't ever be alone again. Oh, and forget what I said about eating people. I don't do that. Much."

He waved, and jumped.

* * *

"Oh god." Hope put a hand to her mouth, staring at the policemen who surrounded the house next door. "God, what's happening?"

"Mrs Hubert is dead," said Tetsu, tilting his chair back to look out the window as well. Hope turned towards him slowly.

"How do you know? Did you have anything to do with this?"

"Why would I?" He let his chair fall back down with a thud and turned back to his rice. "You said yourself I would not kill."

"I'm not so sure."

"Good, so you're learning." He grinned at her, then turned serious. "But I didn't kill Mrs Hubert."

"Oh." Hope sat down opposite him, resting her head in her hands and looking exhausted. "I just thought... since you seemed so angry after we met them at the shop... how did you know, then?"

"I talked to one of the policemen." He had been beautiful, and Tetsu had stood close to him, breathing in his scent. And remembering it, so that he could easily follow it later. He hadn't had meat in over a week.

"I'm sorry." Hope reached out, put her hand over his. "I shouldn't distrust you. Of course you didn't hurt her."

"I went and talked to her, though," Tetsu said, thoughtfully. "She didn't listen much."

"About what?"

"Jealousy."

"Did you frighten her?"

_The image of someone not quite human, tapping on her window. _

"_I'l__l come back." _

_The thought of looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life__. _

"_You won't ever be alone again." _

_A pair of long-fingered hands, __reaching for her throat... sharp teeth... strange eyes... _

Tetsu shrugged. "I don't know. Should I have?"

Hope sighed, shook her head. "No, you shouldn't. She's old. One bad fright could mean her life. I wonder if that's what happened? I know you didn't mean to, but you may have frightened her to death. Poor woman. So lonely." And to his surprise, she was crying.

"She wasn't nice," he said.

"No, she wasn't. But no one should die before their time. And it makes me think – maybe things could have been easier. Maybe if we'd been kinder to each other, things could have gone differently. Maybe... it wouldn't have ended this way."

_Humans. _Tetsu leaned his head in one hand, watching Hope crying. _They use the word 'if' all the time. Always looking back, wondering __**if**__ they had done this, __**if**__ they had done that... even though it's already too late. The woman was mean and nasty to her, yet she wonders __**if**__ maybe they could have been better friends; greater, more forgiving. So strange..._

* * *

Puzzled but grateful enough over the night indoors that had been given her, the small cat in Mrs Hubert's living room stretched, clawed one of the cushions in the armchair absentmindedly and then jumped to the floor. She picked her way between the legs of policemen, circled around the body of the dead woman and side-stepped a kick from a black-clad leg.

"Probably came in through the window, it was open," muttered a voice, and before Cat had time to dodge a hand came down and grabbed her by the neck, carried her down the stairs and threw her out the door.

Humans, she said to herself. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

And then she sauntered out into the warm morning sun, giving no further thought to the cold lonely home she had just left.

_

* * *

_

I'm so sorry! Once more life got away from me. This spring has been rather crazy – as if it wasn't enough with my all-consuming studies, there's been a lot of other things going on. Fanfiction has had to take a back seat, unfortunately.

_But here he is, back again: Tetsu! _

_In other news, have recently found Petshop of Horrors: Tokyo. The saga goes on! (As of yet not a lot of Tetsu action, though.)_


	5. Chapter Four, Famine and Thirst

Chapter Four – Famine and Thirst

"Why won't you eat?" Hope smiled at Tetsu over the table.

"I'm not very hungry." Well, that was untrue – he was, but he could not find the appetite for vegetables. "Why do you want me to eat?"

"You don't have to," she said, still smiling. "But you are so thin. I just want to keep you healthy, dear boy."

"I thought skinny was good." (He had been watching television again.)

"Healthy is better."

"You have a point." So humans did have some sense, after all. He saw many things that puzzled him, living with Hope, and one of them was the way humans starved themselves. He could understand the wish to avoid obesity – it made it difficult to run and hunt – but being too thin was never good, either. It made you weak.

What intrigued him most of all was the human ability to accept paradoxes. He had seen countless examples during the weeks, and one of his favourites was directly connected to starvation. He would see it on television: right after an advertisement for weight loss cures, there would be a plea for donations to relief organisations – to save people from starving.

Hope had looked at him very strangely when he laughed at this, so he had tried to keep his mirth silent afterwards.

But right now, he needed meat. He contemplated paying a visit to one of Hope's so called friends, but remembered how upset she had been last time one of them kicked the bucket. She hadn't smiled properly for several days, and had worn nothing but black for over a week. She had only just started to laugh again, and he didn't want her to stop.

Besides, they were probably tough as hell on the teeth.

"I'm going out tonight," he said, as he placed his plate in the sink and reached over for the sugar bowl.

"Of course," said Hope vaguely, fiddling with the coffee pot. "Have a nice time."

"I may not be back until tomorrow."

"Well, you know where the key is."

"I'll do the dishes before I go so don't you dare start on them."

She turned then, and put her hand to his cheek.

"You're such a sweet boy," she said.

He didn't realise until much later how used he had become to being touched by this human, and how fond he had become of the feeling of her hands on his face. Every time she patted his cheek he felt like rolling up beside her and purring...

_I'm turning into a bloody cat_, he thought sardonically, _a domesticated bloody wuss_. He snorted at the thought. It didn't bother him as much as it should have, though.

He dressed well for the evening, and left after telling Hope again that he might not be back. He didn't plan to stay out too long, but you never knew – he might find some meat that was fun to play with for a while before devouring. He made his way quickly to the centre of town, passing as a goat-like creature, easily mistaken for a dog in the poor light, under the eyes of the guards outside a night club and regaining human form once inside. The place was thronged despite the relatively early hour, and he wrinkled his nose at the already much too inebriated youngsters pushing around him. Looked like it'd be fast food tonight...

When the bartender looked the other way for a moment he swiped a drink off the bar top and made his way into the main room, looking around himself with interest and evaluating everything he laid his eyes on. No... too small, too brawny, too unhealthy, too high... Tetsu had made the mistake of dining on a doped up human once; not an experience he wanted to relive... too skinny, too skinny, too skinny, bloody hell – humans _would_ starve themselves, wouldn't they? It annoyed him immensely. There was hardly enough meat on the average bloke about town to keep him satisfied for more than a few days at the most.

Wait... here was something. A chubby redhead, with round arms and cheeks that seemed to have been made for him to bite. She would do him nicely for tonight. But still...

Still, he hesitated. There was something wrong with her. She was too... too...

_Happy._

... heavily made up, Tetsu determined. That was it. (He did hate the taste of cosmetics.) Best to let her go, and find another.

Ah, Tetsu, you've lived too long among humans. You've begun to grade your potential victims, giving them different value, ranking them in the order your human conscience tells you is right. As if humans have different worth, as if someone has a greater right to live because she's young and happy and full of hopes for the future. Does she really? Do you _earn_ life?

He settled in the end for a young man with wildness in his eyes. Partly because he had muscled forearms that just about made Tetsu drool, and partly because he seemed to promise for an interesting feed. But also because there were hints of a life in loneliness, and it might be that there was no one who would miss him if he disappeared.

So does a death matter less if there is no one to mourn it, Tetsu? Why are you even asking these questions? Once you fed indiscriminately, a hungry animal – now you doubt and hesitate. Half creature, half human; you've turned into a centaur.

He returned home in the early hours, happy and well-fed. The house was dark and quiet as he retrieved the key from underneath the large white geranium below the kitchen window and unlocked the front door. He'd have to walk softly, so as not to disturb Hope – she was such a light sleeper. Yawning hugely he entered the house, working his shoulders. He had eaten and played, and now he wanted to sleep on one of those dangerously comfortable human beds.

He found Hope on the living room floor.


	6. Chapter Five, Sickness

_Hello and very sorry! It is a bit unforgivable to leave a story hanging like this for over two weeks, and especially when its the last chapter... sorry again. I unfortunately only have access to internet at work - I still don't have internet at home - and somehow I don't think they would take all too kindly to me using the work computer to publish stories. (Maybe I should get my employers hooked on first, and then try it...?) _

_Oh well, I won't go on. A big thank you to those who have read and commented - as it was my first story in a long while, I was rather nervous about it. But I was very happy to read your comments! _

_Anyway, without further ado or apologies..._

Chapter Five – Sickness

How long had she been there, on that cold floor? She must have fallen soon after he left, just before dusk, since she had not had time to light any of the lamps. Had she broken anything? Was the problem lack of food or was it exhaustion or had she hurt herself, was she in pain? Let her not be in pain! Should he call a doctor? How? And if he did, would they hear a human plea for help or just animal noise?

Questions and fears filled his mind as he carried Hope to her room – that light body, hardly more weight than a bird – and laid her on her bed, and covered her with blankets, and rested her head gently on her pillow, and put the kettle on (on the television they always made tea when someone was upset and Tetsu had concluded that this was a kind of magical human medicine passed down through the ages).

She was breathing, wasn't she?

She opened her eyes as he brought the tea in, and smiled weakly.

"Heart's had a funny turn," she whispered.

He was on his knees beside her bed in a second, taking her hand and feeling her forehead. "How are you feeling?" he asked. "Do you hurt anywhere? What can I do to help?"

"I would love something warm to eat. Just some chicken broth..." she said, in a small quavering voice that didn't sound much like her at all. "I'm sorry to ask it of you, when I know you are a vegetarian and you probably don't want to handle it at all, but would it be alright to make that for me?"

"I'm not – " he began, but realised that this was not the time to discuss his dietary habits and checked himself. "Yes. Yes, it's alright, of course."

He realised as he started on the broth that his hands were shaking. He tried to remind himself that she was, after all, just a human! ... but he knew at the same time that this didn't matter. She was _his_ human. She was special. She smiled at him...

She fell asleep after having her broth and he sat beside her bed, watching her breathe softly, afraid to death that she'd suddenly stop.

* * *

It was her heart that was the matter, he understood eventually – weak with age, it had given a flutter and then stopped altogether, for a little while (or something like that). Hope was horribly weak and sick, unable even to rise from her bed. He made her soup and porridge and similar easy-eaten meals, and sat by her side ready to fulfil her every wish. She laughed, once, and said,

"But this is what you hate, dear boy."

"What?" he had asked.

"Living beyond your time. Hanging on, even though your body is telling you it's time to be gone, long since."

"Don't listen," he had said fiercely. "It's _not_ time for you to be gone. You must stay."

She had laughed, quietly and a little wheezily. "Changed your mind, have you? I know you hate this strange human desire for life unending."

"Not when it's you."

He couldn't remember if he had said it, or just thought it, but in either case the sentence had shocked him when he realised it was true. If it was her, he wanted time to stretch out infinitely, to never end. It shocked him, because he had never thought it before.

It was the first time Tetsu loved.

He didn't go outside the house for four days, and when he finally did it was to go shopping for food. They looked at him strangely, in the little shop he had visited with Hope many times before, and he thought They want to ask, but they don't dare. And I want to tell, but _I_ don't dare. How do I say these words, how do I let them know she's hurt at home, and I'm worried...

For the first time in his life, Tetsu wished he was human.

"You're such a help to me," said Hope when he returned home. "I don't know what I would do without you."

She was looking worse, he saw at once. She was paler than ever and her eyes were cloudy.

"I should call a doctor," he said. (But how?)

"No." Her voice was stronger than ever before, suddenly. "I don't want it. I'm old. It's time for me, soon."

"You mustn't!"

She smiled at him, and put a hand to his cheek, the way she used to. "Dear boy," she said, "you've been a comfort to me, this last time. But I'm very ill, now, and I won't ever be the same as before. I don't want to end my days in a home, being looked after by strangers with blank faces. Much better, then, to go now, and here. And I'm tired... I long to sleep."

"Sleep," he said, "and I'll watch over you. I'll see that no one comes."

"There's only one coming, and you can't fight him," she smiled. "Not even you, with your claws and your teeth." She raised her head slightly from her pillow, to look at him. "You're not human, are you?"

"No."

"I thought so. I thought so..." And she lay back and closed her eyes, and Tetsu sat by her side crying human tears.

She passed quietly and peacefully in middle of the night. Death came and Tetsu couldn't stop him.

* * *

"She lived alone?"

"She lived alone, yes."

"Strange. Strange..."

"What's strange?" The man who ran the shop close to Hope's home looked curiously at the policeman, who frowned.

"It seems as if someone's been there, taking care of her. And the door was open – that's why we came, in the first place. A neighbour called us in. But none of them have been to see her for over a week."

"Well, I don't know, I'm sure," said the shop-owner, shrugging. "I never heard of her having company."

"So there was not, for example, a young man living with her...?" the policeman suggested, doubtfully.

"What? Where'd you get that daft idea?"

"The neighbours again," muttered the policeman, somewhat shamefaced. "Probably just old women's talk. One or two said they'd seen her with a young man... oriental-looking..."

"Don't know who that'd be," said the shop-owner. "I only ever saw her in here alone. Or sometimes with her dog."

"She had a dog?" frowned the policeman.

"Wasn't a dog, was it, dad?" asked a young man who was stacking shelves. "Was more of a goat. But with long hair."

"What are you talking about, son? Why would she have a goat?"

"It wasn't a dog, anyhow."

"I saw her with a man," said the shop-owner's daughter, peeking up at the policeman from underneath a low shelf and making him jump. "He was barefoot."

"You mean her son," said the shop-owner. "He hasn't been here in ages. Although, now that you say it... there was someone with her here last week, wasn't there? That must've been him. Only I'm sure he wouldn't have so much hair..."

"He had no shoes," said the girl, gravely.

"I'm sure it was a goat, you know, dad," said the young man.

"Where does he live, this son?" asked the policeman, feeling more confused by the minute. "And this goat, where would that be..."

"In Cambodia."

"What?"

"The son."

"_And_ he was here yesterday," said the girl.

"Sorry, now I'm a little... oh, I see... wait, if he lives in Cambodia...?"

"Maybe they don't have shoes in Cambodia," pondered the girl, and started painstakingly tying the policeman's shoelaces together.

* * *

Tetsu watched from the roof on the other side of the street. His face was still wet with tears, but he made no move to dry them. He had sat with Hope until morning, and then left without closing the door, hoping and guessing – correctly – that this would bring police to the scene in time. He didn't want her to lie in that darkened house for days until someone finally thought to see what had happened. He wanted her to be found quickly.

He would miss that house. He would miss the beds and the carpets, but only for a day or two. He would miss the television, that endless source of amusement, but in time he'd forget about it. He would miss the food, lovingly cooked, but food was only food and the longing for Hope's pumpkin soup would be gone with his next feed.

He would miss Hope as well, though, and that would never go away.

He knew now what he had been looking for, these past years. He knew because he'd had it, and lost it, and the pain of that loss was worse than anything he'd ever endured before. He had found it in Hope's house, and in her smile, and in the way she touched his face with warm hands.

Totetsu craved a home.

Hope's house was a home no longer. It was a dead thing, dark and ugly. So he was on his way again, looking for his home, searching for that special person that could make him feel safe. He didn't know how long it would take him to get there, but now at least he knew what to look for. And he had hope now that he'd find it. One day...

He sent a final thought towards Hope, wherever she was now, and then rose.

"Pick a direction," he said to himself, "any direction..."

Moments later the roof was empty.

_The End..._


End file.
